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Feed Your Skull a Snack: Turkish Figs

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Feed Your Skull a Snack: Turkish Figs

I might also call this post ‘wasps are not worthless’. Last year when I was trimming evergreen hedges I clipped the edge of a golf ball sized wasp nest and was stung. Let me tell you I was not feeling an ounce of compassion or happy thoughts about how all living things are relevant. I thought what is your purpose wasp? Do you make honey and help plants grow?? No.

Or so I thought. After doing a little research on figs, I’ve discovered that while some fig trees have been domesticated and don’t require pollination—some DO.

They require pollination from the blastophaga psenes wasp species. There’s a small opening just the right size for a wasp to crawl in and pollinate. Crazy!

While I’m sure I wasn’t stung by a fig wasp I do find myself more hopeful and less resentful towards them. So, there’s that.

Feed Your Skull a Snack: Turkish FigsToday’s snack suggestion and inspiration is to eat a fig. Skip the vending machine and snack on one of these. Eat them whole (besides the tiny stem), plain, with cinnamon, sliced, chopped, on a salad. You get where I’m going with this.

Feed Your Skull a Snack: Turkish FigsWe’ll communally ignore what they look like, never bring it up again, and just accept that they are delicious.

You probably grew up loving the fig newton cookie—at least I did—and these little guys taste just like the cookie but without all the added ingredients. If you haven’t had a fig cookie, figs have a sweet maple-y/honey like flavor with a date+chia seed like texture.

They can be ordered online (I go through Nuts.com), purchased at Trader Joe’s, a co-op or maybe a local grocery store if you are very lucky.

Fig Benefits [source]:

  • Great source of potassium, which helps control blood-pressure, especially if consuming a high-sodium diet
  • High fiber, helps in weight management
  • Protection against macular degeneration
  • Contain Vitamin B6, Copper, Manganese, Pantothenic Acid

Feed Your Skull a Snack: Turkish FigsRandom Fig Facts:

  • Native to Middle East and Asia
  • Grown for fruit and decoration
  • Leaves are edible and nutritious with anti-diabetic properties
  • Grow on deciduous trees
  • Figs predate the domestication of wheat, barley, and legumes
  • I remember quite a few fig trees growing in Portland, Or

Read more about figs:

So…go eat a fig already! xo

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